hree
Bishoprics, at that time imperial fiefs, Metz, Verdun, and Toul. A
large German army under Alva besieged Metz, but failed to overcome the
brilliant defence of Francis of Guise. Worn by the attrition of
repulsed assaults and of disease the imperial army melted away. When
the siege was finally raised Guise distinguished himself as much by the
humanity with which he cared for wounded and sick enemies as he had by
his military prowess.

Six years later Guise added fresh laurels to his fame and new
possessions to France by the conquest of Calais and Guines, the last
English possessions in French territory. The loss of Calais, which had
been held by England since the Hundred Years War, was an especially
bitter blow to the islanders. These victories were partly
counterbalanced by the defeats of French armies at St. Quentin on the
Somme [Sidenote: 1557] and by Egmont at Gravelines. [Sidenote: 1558]
When peace was signed at Cateau-Cambresis, [Sidenote: Peace of
Cateau-Cambresis, 1559] France renounced all her conquests in the
south, but kept the Three Bishoprics and Calais, all of which became
her permanent possessions.

[Sidenote: Calvinism]

{201} While France was thus expanding her borders, the internal
revolution matured rapidly. The last years of Francis and the reign of
Henry II saw a prodigious growth of Protestantism. What had begun as a
sect now became, by an evolution similar to that experienced in
Germany, a powerful political party. It is the general fate of new
causes to meet at first with opposition due to habit and the
instinctive reaction of almost all minds against "the pain of a new
idea." But if the cause is one suited to the spirit and needs of the
age, it gains more and more supporters, slowly if left to itself,
rapidly if given good organization and adequate means of presenting its
claims. The thorough canvassing of an idea is absolutely essential to
win it a following. Now, prior to 1536, the Protestants had got a
considerable amount of publicity as well through their own writings as
through the attacks of their enemies. But not until Calvin settled at
Geneva and began to write extensively in French, was the cause
presented in a form capable of appealing to the average Frenchman.
Calvin gave not only the best apology for his cause, but also furnished
it with a definite organization, and a coherent program. He supplied
the dogma, the liturgy, and the moral ideas of the new religion, a